By Austin Harrington- http://www.lemarssentinel.com/

LE MARS — U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, held a town hall meeting at Floyd Valley Hospital, in Le Mars, Wednesday.During the meeting, Grassley urged Le Mars residents to stand and ask any question they wanted answered.

He said he believes town hall meetings are important because they give people a chance to speak with their representatives face to face.

“I come around to town meetings because looking at you in the eye and you looking at me is the best way to communicate,” Grassley said.

He also urged people to call, write letters, email and use social media to get the attention of politicians.

“I’m here because I feel like I have a responsibility to encourage this sort of two-way communication,” Grassley said.

During the meeting, Grassley took questions about immigration, cyber security, the presidential election and other topics.

Grassley said he believes part of the problem with discussing any issue is that America has become deeply divided along political party lines.

He said in the past, network TV stations controlled the flow of information and news.

“We didn’t have all these cable channels, left and right. We didn’t have all these talk shows, left and right. You didn’t have the Internet. There isn’t a political view that can’t get out today. So consequentially, people at the grassroots are more divided, conservative and liberal,” Grassley said.

He said that divide can also be seen in Congress.

Grassley said one of the few places a compromise may be able to be made is on the issue of social security.

A recent congressional committee study stated cash reserves for social security will end by 2033.

That would mean a 25 percent drop in the amount collected by people receiving social security.

To solve the problem, Grassley said people need to step beyond party lines and come up with a solution.

“The ideas floating around are increasing the age limit, increasing taxes, maybe having a different formula for people in the latter half of the income population versus the upper half, maybe even means testing for very wealthy people and things like that. They all have to be on the table,” Grassley said.

Near the end of Wednesday’s meeting, members of the audience expressed some frustration with the way government functions.

Grassley said he understands why people are upset and he believes they have a right to be.

“That’s exactly why I hold town hall meetings,” Grassley said. “Every single senator can do more to reduce the cynicism that people have about Congress.”